Obama's remarks on Quantanimo

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jed.green Posted: Thu, May 21 2009 10:28 AM

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Ok, I gotta say that what he said, sounded good to me.  Bring those that can be transported to the U.S. here, try them, and put them in a supermax.  Let those that need to be set free go free, transported to foreign soil and entered into rehab.  Put those in violation of war crime in front of a legal military commision. Those that cannot be released and cannot be tried remain a problem to be addressed by congress and the judiciary.  Close the prison and restore the values of the U.S. in regards to the treatment of P.O.W.s. I just hope he does what he says. 

The only thing I didn't hear was making reperations to the innocent American citizens that found themselves detained, some of whom were held for over a year.  Nor did I hear about holding Cheney, Bush or the War Counsil accountable.

As I am trying to get my head around the Libertarian stance I'd like to hear some rhetoric from the rest you.  So sound off!

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DASawyer replied on Thu, May 21 2009 10:42 AM

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My take:

The thing I'd like most is for members of the previous administration to be held accountable for their actions. Of course, Obama won't do that, since then he faces the very real possibility that the next administration will hold him and his accountable for theirs. But if I saw Bush and Cheney et al. end up facing reparations, prison time, possibly even extradition to an international forum to try them for crimes against the citizens of other countries, I'd vote to re-elect Obama on that alone.

And that's it. Any US Citizens ought to be brought to a proper public trial within a month of... now. Non-citizens ought to be either given proper POW treatment or brought before an international venue to be tried for their actions.

And if any of them were falsely detained, particularly when its obvious there was no real reason for their detention, the individuals responsible for that detention ought to be held personally responsible for this, all the way up to George W. Bush.

I think the essence of the libertarian view is that agents of the state (employees of the government) are not exempt from the law. They should be treated no differently than I should be were I to kidnap you and lock you up in my basement for five years.